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cpj_20190306
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The Cooper Point Journal (March 06, 2019)
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Date
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6 March 2019
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extracted text
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ARTIST INTERVIEW
BY BRITTANYANA PIERRO 13
@yourCPJ
LIT & CRIT
“I DON’T WANT YOUR
HIPSTER GUMBO”
the cooper point journal
The Evergreen State College Newspaper Since 1971| March 6,2019
DE’JA MARSHALL
REFERENCE POINT NAV.
10
STUDENTS DEVELOP
ACCESSIBILITY APP
3
MARCH 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
1
The Cooper Point Journal
STAFF
Editor-in-Chief
Georgie Hicks
C r e at i v e D i r ec t o r
Mason Soto
Business Manager
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B r i t t a n y a n a P i e r ro
M anaging E ditor & W eb
D a n i e l Vo g e l
master
Copy Editor
S teph Bec k Fe y
Distribution Manager
Al li s on L eD u c
Writers
Mar ta Ta hja -S y ret t
Daniel P f eif le
Mar iah G u il f o il-D o vel
S teph Bec k Fe y
CONTACT
O f f i ce
T h e E v e r g re e n S t a t e C o l l e g e
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COVER ART BY
D e ’ Ja M a r s h a l l
T w i t t e r / F a ceb o o k / I n s ta
@yourCPJ
© 2018 the Cooper Point Journal
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FROM THE ARCHIVES
archives.
Summer Mud Run participant 6/1/1987. Coutesy of the Evergeen photo
HOW WE WORK
The Cooper Point Journal is produced by students at The Evergreen State College, with funding from student
fees and advertising from local businesses. The Journal is published for free every other Wednesday during the
school year and distributed throughout the Olympia area.
Our content is also available online at www.cooperpointjournal.com.
Our mission is to provide an outlet for student voices, and to inform and entertain the Evergreen community
and the Olympia-area more broadly, as well as to provide a platform for students to learn about operating a
news publication.
Our office is located on the third floor of the Campus Activities Building (CAB) at Evergreen State College
in room 332 and we have open student meetings from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. every Wednesday. Come early if you’d
like to chat with the editor!
WORK FOR US
We accept submissions from any student at The Evergreen State College, and also from former students,
faculty, and staff. We also hire some students onto our staff, who write articles for each issue and receive a
learning stipend.
Have an exciting news topic? Know about some weird community happening? Enjoy that new hardcore
band? Come talk to us and write about it.
We will also consider submissions from non-Evergreen people, particularly if they have special knowledge on
the topic. We prioritize current student content first, followed by former students, faculty and staff, and then
general community submissions. Within that, we prioritize content related to Evergreen first, followed by
Olympia, the state of Washington, the Pacific Northwest, etc.
To submit an article, reach us at cooperpointjournal@gmail.com.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
We want to hear from you! If you have an opinion on anything we’ve reported in the paper, or goings-on in
Olympia or at Evergreen, drop us a line with a paragraph or two (100 - 300 words) for us to publish in the
paper. Make sure to include your full name, and your relationship to the college—are you a student, staff,
graduate, community member, etc. We reserve the right to edit anything submitted to us before publishing,
but we’ll do our best to consult with you about any major changes.
Zack Hurtz using Reference Point Navigation to navigate campus, 2019. YOUTUBE.
Greeners
Developing
App to Help
Blind Navigate
Reference Point
Navigation will provide
point-to-point navigation
on-campus, on other
campuses and,
eventually, the world.
by Daniel Vogel
In 2017, when Robert Kerekes
Jr of Morris Plains New Jersey
called Evergreen and threatened
to “execute as many people on the
campus as I can get ahold of,” the
students in Senior Zack Hurtz’
program scattered.
“Everyone was gone, and my
professor is like, ‘hey, do you need
assistance?’” recounted Hurtz, who
is blind. Hurtz’s professor, Ralph
Murphy, eventually gave
Hurtz a ride home.
“I look at that, how do we
make that more accessible?” said
Hurtz. “How do we set up these
scenarios where users can be safe
while getting out of an unsafe
area?”
Now, Hurtz has an answer, in
the form of a mobile app called
Reference Point Navigation,
which Hurtz developed with a team of
Evergreen students.
“You’re sitting in
class and a fire alarm goes off, and
you can bring up your phone, open
up the app and say, ‘get me out,’”
said Hurtz.
Using GPS and local sensors,
the app provides point-to-point
navigation across campus. Users will be able to save their own
points of interest and submit map
changes for review.
The app is still in development,
but has made huge strides since
Hurtz started the project last September.
“Richard Weiss, who is an
amazing instructor, allowed me
to recruit some people from this
class,” said Hurtz. “And when I
say I recruited, I mean, he gave me
some people, and he said ‘These
are the people you will be working
with.’”
Hurtz first approached professor Scott Morgan with the idea
during Morgan’s tiny house class
last summer. “We’re talking about
codes and structure rules and all of
that,’ and I said, ‘You know, there’s
some rules here that the school
doesn’t follow with the Americans
with Disabilities Act,’” said Hurtz.
“There’s some signs that are missing here, there’s not updated emergency evacuation routes.”
Morgan told Hurtz to put together an ILC proposal for the fall.
“I didn’t know what I was getting
into,” said Hurtz.
In only five months, Hurtz and
his development team —- including Evergreen students Chris Daley, Geddy Pence, Nicholas Smith,
Dragon Wittmier, Lacey Brazeau,
and Chris Kai —- have written
more than 40,000 lines of Java and
Python code. Hurtz insisted on
thanking his development team by
name. “They’re doing a lot of work
and should be recognized.”
Hurtz hopes to implement
the system at Evergreen by the
end of the year, as a “proof of concept.” But he doesn’t want to stop
there. “Our goal is to be in schools
within five years, nationwide,” said
Hurtz. “Obviously, that’s a pretty
big goal.”
To get there, Reference Point
Navigation (or “Reference Point”
for short) is competing for
$50,000 in grants and prizes. Reference Point produced a video for
the $25,000 Holman Prize, which
is run by the LightHouse for the
Blind and Visually Impaired, an
international charity. “We recognize that asking a blind person
to upload a video may challenge
some people’s ideas of what blind
people are capable of — of what
blind people can or should do,“
says LightHouse CEO Bryan
Bashin.
“The more likes we get on
that video, the better our chances of moving on to the second
round,” said Hurtz. “If we get the
most likes we automatically get
to the final round without being
removed.”Hurtz wants to use the
money to build an organization
that could administer and build
maps for other campuses.
Unlike road or trail maps, Reference Point maps will contain
rich data, including the location
of stairs, signage, elevator buttons,
and other important landmarks.
“We would allow schools to send
in their own people to be trained
on how to build their maps,” said
Hurtz. “If they don’t want to have
us do their maps, they can take
care of it themselves and just have
it verified through us.”
“That’s one of the real challenges in mapping for people who are
visually impaired. There are different classes of landmarks that people need to be aware of, as well as
extra information that is obvious
to sighted people, that we need to
capture and provide to the user,”
said lead developer Chris Daley.
“For example, a hallway intersection is no challenge for a sighted
person to navigate, but for a blind
person, that can be a maze of potential misdirection.”
In their video, Hurtz describes
the Reference Point system as a
cheaper and more easily modifiable method for campuses to comply with “outdated” ADA standards. “Following the ADA can be
expensive and puts hardships on
campuses. This results in outdated
signs, which over time causes hazards when we as people with disabilities are relying on accessibility
News
tools that aren’t being maintained
or improved,” says Hurtz.
The digital maps provided by
Reference Point will be easier to
modify than braille signage, which
often needs to be ordered from a
special printer and can lead to delays or improper signage over time.
And as users will be able to add
their own landmarks, the maps
will become more detailed over
time and conform specifically to
the needs of its blind and visually
impaired user base.
“We will we allow users to implement their own landmarks. So
if they’re at a spot that they want to
remember, they can tap a button.
And then if they want to submit it
for review, then it gets uploaded to
the map, or it gets uploaded to our
in-house marking services to look
at,” said Hurtz.
Each campus Reference Point
expands to will need new maps,
but once the system has been tested, there’s no particular reason to
limit themselves to college campuses. In this way Reference Point
mirrors the growth of Facebook or
Tinder, both of which were started
on a limited number of campuses
before their global launch.
“Right now we’re building it on
accessible navigation and information for the blind,” said Hurtz. “But
we can expand and fluctuate to
whatever the services are required.
So whether that be a museum, a
hospital, an airport, a school or city,
they can turn it into whatever they
they like.”
Hurtz envisions future institutional users expanding on the app
to provide contextual information.
“You have a user going to the museum, and as they’re walking past
a painting, it starts telling them
about the painting, or describing
it or giving the history on it,” said
Hurtz. “We’re taking one side of
what people might take for granted and putting in the hands of users who would kill for this kind of
information.”
Hurtz hopes that the app, when
implemented, will improve inequities on campus. “All the students
that go to the school pay money to
be here. They don’t understand that
they’re paying into a system that is
failing them in a lot of respects in
terms of accessibility, but until they
need it, they don’t think about it,”
said Hurtz. “When we students
with disabilities are expected to be
just like every other student, and
we don’t have the tools to do so, it
puts us at a disadvantage.”
MARCH 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
3
News
MARCH
2019
Washington
Governor
Running For
President
What’s
Governor Jay Inslee announced his plan to run
for the 2020 Democratic
Presidential
nomination
on March 1, in a one-anda-half minute long video
uploaded to Youtube. The
video emphasizes his campaign to tackle climate
change, with a montage of
speeches Inslee has given
over the years on the subject. In 2007 the governor
wrote a book on Climate
Change with Breckan Hendricks, Apollo’s Fire.
Since his announcement,
the governor has began parading through the media,
with appearances on ABC
News and The View this
week, and an affectionate
article in Rolling Stone
where he explains that he
wants to “decarbonize the
economy” through unified effort from all
government agencies. The announcement for
the presidential bid came
the same day
that Washington Senate passed
Senate Bill
5116, which
the governor
championed,
and
which
will
require
state-owned
utilities to eliminate coal-generated electricity use
by 2025, and to be carbon-free by 2045.
On Feb. 12 a federal judge
denied a motion filed by
Officer Ryan Donald
and the city of Olympia to terminate
the lawsuit against
them, which involves the 2015
incident when
Donald, a white
police
officer,
shot two African-American
brothers, Andre
Thompson and
Bryson
Chaplin. The decision,
made by U.S. District Judge Ronald
Leighton, means that
the case will move forward
and a trial will begin, or a setProtest against police brutality.Felix Chrome. Cooper Point Journal.
4
WWW.COOPERPOINTJOURNAL.COM
tlement can be reached.
This is the second trial involving the shooting, since the
2017 case against the brothers
themselves, in which they both
received third-degree assault
charges after jury deliberation.
Donald continues to work with
Olympia Police Department,
and was cleared of all wrongdoing by the department and
the Thurston County prosecutor.
Many locals have held actions and demonstrations in
support of the brothers since
they were shot, focusing on the
racial inequities regarding police brutality and punitive justice highlighted by shootings
such as this. The lawsuit does
not allege racial bias.
Gov. Jay Inslee official
porttrait. HEATHER
DAVIS. Courtesy of Flickr.
Andre &
Bryson’s
Lawsuit
Moves
Forward
Happening?
Few Answers Still
in Case of Yvonne
McDonald
Justice for Yvonne.
Courtesy of
TALAUNA REED.
After a series of actions including a picket last month and a rally in the fall, on Feb. 15 Industrial Workers of the World General
Education Union announced in a
letter posted to social media that
“Evergreen’s administrators seems
to be meeting our demands.” The
demands were delivered to administration on Nov. 7 following a rally
on Red Square, and read as:
• The immediate end to the
hiring process of another campus
police officer, and,
• The immediate hiring of
two full-time positions, one in
Political Economy and one in
More than six months after the
death of Yvonne McDonald, a 56 yearold black woman and Evergreen alumni who was found a few blocks from
her home in West Olympia on Aug. 7,
officials have given limited details to
the public about the investigation into her death.
Officials such as
City
Manager Steve Hall
and Thurston
County Coroner Gary
Wa r n o c k
h a v e
maintained
that the
investigation is
waiting
on
the
return of
toxicolog y
reports. All
officials contacted by the
Journal have refused to give a statement to the press about an
ongoing investigation.
Mason County Coroner Wes Stock-
Arts (either Theatre or Photography).
The recent letter announcing the
victory says that the police position that was vacated in 2018 will
not be filled, and that the union
has heard “on good authority” that
new positions have opened in Political Economy and Community
Media. The union held a Victory
Social Event at the Flaming Eggplant Cafe on Wednesday, Feb. 27
to celebrate and discuss next steps.
According to their letter, the union
will continue to combat the privatization of the institution, seek popular control of the institution, and
oppose police on campus.
News
Blurbs about the latest
news to keep you in
the know.
by Mason Soto
well told the Journal that for the past
year toxicology reports have taken up
to and over six months to get back
from the state labs. Warnock discussed
this issue last summer in an article for
King 5 News, saying that such delays
hurt the family. The article explains
that the issue may have to do with the
increased amount of tests sent to labs
by state troopers, though there also
seem to be issues with state funding
for death investigations, as described
in a report by The Daily News out of
Longview, WA.
“We’ve resorted to paying private
labs to get a one week return, typically,” explained Stockwell, who was advised by Cowlitz County Coroner and
Medical Examiners Association President Tim Davidson about the ability
to pay out of pocket for reports from
private labs. At the time of this publication, Thurston County Coroner’s
Office had not responded to questions
from the Journal about whether they
have also sent samples to private labs.
Yvonne’s niece Talauna Reed and
others continue to organize a campaign
for justice, and Justice For Yvonne McDonald supporters took part in recent
protests like the Women’s March on
Jan. 19, and the #BlockTheWall action
on Feb. 20.
IWW General
Education Union
Announces
Victory
IWWGEU logo.
Courtesy IWWGEU
MARCH 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
5
Stuff 2 Do
7 p.m., Public & Free!
Purce Lecture Hall 1
From Campus Website: While the participation of
women in the field of experimental animation has become
more and more visible, their work has not been sufficiently exhibited or discussed, nor have their varied and singular perspectives. To recognize the important contributions that women have made to the field of Experimental
Animation in Latin America as directors, animators,
artist, art directors, and sound engineers Moebius Animacion has curated Women in Latin American Experimental Animation, an exhibition of short films by Latin
American women and women of Latin American descent.
Join us for this screening of films, presented by co-curator
Lina X. Aguirre.
6
WOC IN LEADERSHIP:
BLACK WOMEN IN HISTORY
1 p.m., $10 NOTAFLOF
Media Island International
This three hour workshop will be an opportunity to share,
discuss, and learn about the accomplishments of women of
African descent. This event is open to the public and will
be facilitated by Marin Kyle and Shawna Hawk, with the
last hour set aside for discussion and snacks. Share stories you know, from your own life or from history. No one
turned away for lack of funds. Sponsored by Media Island
International and KOWA.
WWW.COOPERPOINTJOURNAL.COM
SUNDAY, MARCH 17
FILM: LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN IN
EXPERIMENTAL ANIMATION
SATURDAY, MARCH 9
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6
F
F
U
ST
O
D
2
SUNDAY, MARCH 10
Speedy the Geoduck hiding chillaxing. 2014, SHAUNA BITTLE.
OLYMPIA FILM SOCIETY: WORLDS OF
URSULA K. LE GUIN
7:30 pm, $10 admission
Sun, 3/10, 3/17 5:00 p.m.
Sat, 3/23 4 p.m., Booksale at 3:30
Capitol Theater
Olympia Film Society presents Worlds of Ursula K. Le
Guin (2018), a documentary by Arwin Kurry that delves
into the science fiction universes and mind of author
Ursula K. Le Guin. She is known for works such as Left
Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, and she has
a particular bent to her writing that has helped catalyze
the genre of feminist sci-fi, examining and upending
gender roles and expectations in many of her works. Left
Hand has been called “the most famous examination of
androgyny in fiction”, and she has called Dispossessed
“an Anarchist utopian novel.” Check out the film on the
next couple Sundays, or catch the Saturday showing and
book sale to find out more about Le Guin. Sponsored by
Browser’s.
SPA DAY BENEFIT FOR ELDER
WELLNESS WEEK
$20 per service, elders free
2837 28th Ave NW
Every six months, the elders of Black Mesa indigenous
communities celebrate Elder Wellness Week, with acupuncture, massage, and other services offered by volunteers
to support and pamper elders for the day. This month
Olympia will host its own Elder Wellness Week, to fundraise directly for the Diné struggles against relocation,
and against mining of coal and uranium at Black Mesa.
Services offered will include foot baths, astrology readings, massage, Russian style sauna, and more. Plus a raffle!
Each service is $20, or three for $50. Elders get treatments
for free, and a plate of food. Reach out to volunteer or to
donate dried herbs.
Stuff 2 Do
by
M
n
o
s
a
&
UP
COMING
o
t
o
S
WED. MAR 6
Latin American Women in
Experimental Animation
7 p.m., free
Purce Hall
LATINO LEGISLATIVE DAY & 6TH
ANNUAL FARMWORKER TRIBUNAL
MONDAY, MARCH 18
Legislative Day: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Columbia Room, Legislative Bldg
Farmworker Tribunal: 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Capitol Campus
FRI. MAR 8
Internship &
Program Open House
8 - 10 a.m.
Student Wellness Services
Two annual events will overlap at the Capitol buildings, with complimentary goals. Latino Legislative
Day is an annual event, hosted by Latino Civil Alliance, focused on free advocacy for Latinx struggles
in the legislature. Keynote speaker is Washington
State Representative Lillian Ortiz-Self, with another
speech by Texas District Attorney Mike Gonzales,
and folks are encouraged to set up appointments with
their representatives. Following this all day event, the
Annual Farmworker Tribunal will bring agricultural
and foreign work program issues to the forefront,
sharing testimonies to the tribunal from many farmworkers seeking justice from the impacts of the H2A
guestworker program, pesticide use, and farmworker-led food initiatives. The latter event is hosted by
Community to Community, a grassroots organization
led by Washington farmworkers.
STAY WOKE RALLY WITH DOLORES
HUERTA
$10 - $50, sliding, NOTAFLOF
Tabling 5:30 - 7 p.m.
Speakers 7 - 9 p.m.
Washington Center for the Performing Arts
Analog Heartbeat, Icy Box,
Organelle, Behalf
9 p.m., 21+
Cryptotropa
Dolphin Midwives, Crystal
Quartez, & Basil
8 p.m., $7 - 10 suggested, all ages
Octapas Cafe
SAT. MAR 9
WOC In Leadership: Black
Women In History
1 p.m., $10 NOTAFLOF
Media Island International
SUN. MAR 10
OFS: Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin
7:30 p.m., $10 admission
Capitol Theater
SUN. MAR 17
Apollo Ghosts, Jock Tears, &
Calvin Johnson
7 p.m., $5, all ages
Le Voyeur
This event will showcase local and well-known organizers and activists together for a night of inspiration
and learning. The event will began with Thurston
county organizations tabling, and sharing something about the work they do here in the struggle for
social justice. Next, Dolores Huerta, who co-founded
the National Farmworkers Association with Cesar
Chavez, will share the story of her life. Then, youth
who work with the Stay Woke Conference will speak
about their experience. All proceeds from tickets will
benefit the Dolores Huerta Foundation and Stay
Woke Conference.
Spa Day Benefit for Elder
Wellness Week
4 p.m. - 6 p.m. all ages
2837 28th Ave NW
MON. MAR 18
Latino Legislation Day
9 - 5 p.m.
Olympia Capitol Campus
6th Annual Farmworker Tribunal
4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Columbia Rm, Legislative Bldg
Stay Woke Rally
5:30 - 9 p.m.
WA Center for the Performing Arts
MARCH 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
7
Art Feature
De’Ja Marshalll
artist interview by Brittanyana Pierro on page 13
“ Editing is a super huge part of what I
do.I am very interested in graphic design
and Photoshop is my life that’s how I
portray a lot of the feelings that I want
to when I’m like I want this photo to
make somebody feel something if it’s not
present in the photo then I will make it.
Working with what’s already there. And
then also bringing out my inner vision.
Making that come to life.”
8
WWW.COOPERPOINTJOURNAL.COM
Art Feature
@DEJAAMARSHALL
MARCH 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
9
Lit & Crit
Grandmother of the author. Marta Tahja-Syrett.
“I DON’T WANT
YOUR HIPSTER
GUMBO”
By Marta Tah ja-Sy rett
10
The marbled wood-grain of my
great-grandmother’s shotgun sits
propped against hung fabrics, quietly dusting itself in the corner of my
parents’ closet. I only met her once
before she died in Virginia on a street
named for the beauty of bluebirds.
The stale scent of present estranged
from past sticks to these objects of
physical bequeath; the grayed ash
of a time since passed away collecting on her silky blue headscarf and
pearl-colored earrings. A small silver
dove necklace, blue-eyed and cold
from the absence of my great-grandmother’s touch, hangs somewhere,
quietly forgotten. But this was not all
that was willed to me.
I was willed my Cajun heritage;
bayou-drenched and set aflame by
the cold-colored starlight that rises
above muggy southern plains. Hair
darker than blonde I was willed as
well, alongside the pale light that is
always sinking down from the moon
and into the petals of red wildflowers past eventide. I was willed remembrance; all of the memories that
slipped through the cracks between
schoolhouse beatings, memories of
slurred words hanging off the tongues
of oil-field workers, summon themselves to me to be seen. And while I
sit with the past, remembering what
is mine, I understand that this year
many Mardi Gras enthusiasts will
throw their shiny beads, disregarding
what was seen by all of the eyes before me. This Carnival season I recall
the beauty, the blood, and the gumbo.
During the French and Indian
War, French-Catholic Acadians were
exiled from Canada in what is considered to be an act of genocide carried out by the British government.
In a 2011 article for 64 Parishes Magazine, Shane K. Bernard reports that
during the course of Acadian expulsion, it is estimated that “as many
as half of the approximately fifteen
thousand Acadians died from exWWW.COOPERPOINTJOURNAL.COM
posure, disease, starvation, and violence related to their deportation.”
The article describes the moving of
Acadians, as Bernard states, “British
soldiers under Lawrence’s command
ensnared Acadians throughout the
colony, marching them at gunpoint
to the coast.” The exiles were then
shipped to various locations, including the United States, where some of
them later migrated to Louisiana. It
is here that the Cajun people come
from, an ethnic group created out of
poverty and cultural diversity.
During the Civil War, many of the
people in Louisiana who had initially
been associated with the upper-class
were thrown into a state of poverty. Acadians, who were primarily
poor already, began to be viewed in
a more positive light by society now
that a greater number of non-Acadians were finding themselves in a
similar economic situation. Due to
this growing acceptance, people of
varying ethnicities (such as Spanish, German and French) began to
marry Acadians, formulating a new
identity that held Acadian ancestry
at its core. This formation of people
became what is recognizable today as
the French Cajun ethnic group.
Reporting in The Daily Advertiser
in 2016, Erin Segura also notes this
admixture of cultures within the Cajun ethnicity, saying that “approximately 40 percent of Cajun people
have some Native American heritage.” The mixed heritage of Cajun
people is visible within Louisiana
French, with some of the language’s
words originating from Native American roots.
Since its emergence, the Cajun
ethnicity has become something
barred from expression within the
United States’ cultural scene, while
simultaneously serving as a previously untapped resource for many
non-Cajuns to profit off of. The United States’ response to Cajun people is
one of fear; Cajuns did not descend
from assimilation, from the restrictive nature of Americanization. They
are a people who, at their core, are
unique and culturally-expressive.
Against the wishes of society, the
Cajun culture has yet to be buried; it
persists in those who have chosen to
remember. And if it were to be buried, it would lie shrouded in beauty,
the weathering of those who vowed
to destroy dissimilarity tainting what
should have been kept alive.
Despite the ever-present livelihood of Cajun culture, the negative
attitudes projected by this nation
have left an impression on the Cajun
people. Up until the 1960s, Cajun
French was prohibited in Louisiana
schools, and the children who chose
to speak in their native tongue were
beaten for rejecting linguistic assimilation. As a result, Cajuns stopped
passing down their language to successive generations. As a child, my father remembers riding his bike at his
great-grandparents’ house, unable to
understand anything that was being
said around him. This indistinguishable language present in the quick
splice of his memory vanished just as
fast as the passing of time; his grandparents, who were bilingual, refused
to teach his mother how to speak
Cajun French, understanding that
the language would indicate a marker of differentiation between her and
mainstream America.
Past and present attempts at erasure have not hindered the country
from hoisting its spotlight upon us
Cajuns, especially in recent years, as
Cajun culture has been transformed
into something of great market value.
This is something that has definitely developed against our will — no
Cajun grows hungry for Walmart
boudin or seeks out Italian seasoning labeled by a big, fat sticker reading “CAJUN.” Bernard writes, “Reagan-era yuppy-ism, with its emphasis
on conspicuous consumption of the
new and exotic, fueled a veritable
Cajun fad in the 1980s.” But this fad
has definitely revamped itself in blatantly obvious fashion; visible by every Cajun food item sold at the local
grocery store, the numerous Cajun
restaurants across the country, and
the commercialization of Mardi Gras
celebrations.
The Cajun people are known for
their role in Mardi Gras — a Roman
Catholic celebration that precedes
the beginning of Lent. Cajuns, as
the successors of Catholic Acadians,
still hold onto their religious past
as a Roman Catholic people. Today,
Cajuns are associated with the folk
connotations of Catholicism, as they
oftentimes practice beyond what is
described by official doctrines and
rites. This, of course, doesn’t hinder
them from being an integral part of
Fat Tuesday festivities.
Gumbo Ya-Ya, a book of native
folk stories from Louisiana compiled
by Lyle Saxon, originally published in
1945, describes Mardi Gras as a celebration that “has festive echoes in the
bayou country.” According to Saxon,
Cajuns would go door to door on
Fat Tuesday asking for a chicken to
cook into their gumbo. They would
then enjoy tea cakes, popcorn and
doughnuts provided by their designated chicken-giver. Along with
this, Cajuns loved to dance at the
very popular Mardi Gras balls, which
babies would even attend (mothers
apparently sometimes taking home
the wrong baby, after mixing up their
child with another in the baby room).
Despite the extreme poverty which
Cajun people have experienced, and
will probably forever be associated
with, they have always found themselves enveloped by the raw, honest
beauty of life; something clearly illustrated by their joyful celebrations
and traditional practices. As a Cajun
man named Theophile Polite, quoted in Gumbo Ya-Ya, once said, “If a
mans got him shrimps and oysters
for his gumbo, and his wife and him
still is loving each other like two little sweetheart doves, what more he
want, I ask you, hein?”
Because of the respect that I have
for the Cajun people, I remind everyone that the Mardi Gras themed
celebrations held here in the diversity-lacking, affluent city of Olympia are truly a stark reminder of the
disconnect between my culture and
the culture which encapsulates the
capital of our state. Before sprinkling
some “Cajun” seasoning on your gentrified dish of burnt-roux whatever,
you may want to sprinkle your brain
cells with some real Cajun history.
Avert your eyes from Trader Joe’s
Cajun-style alfredo selection. Look
away from all of those flashy, commodified Mardi Gras atrocities, and
crack open an ice-cold book.
And please, never forget this: I
don’t want your hipster gumbo.
Lit & Crit
Great-Grandmother of the author. Marta Tahja-Syrett.
MARCH 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
11
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Art Interview
De’Ja
Marshall
Artist interview by
Brittanyana Pierro
De’Ja Marshall is a sophomore here at Evergreen with
a talent for photography and
a passion for representation.
“I’ve always been really interested in representing things
visually,”
Marshall
explained.
Coming from a family of artists,
Marshall has been interested in using
pictures as a form of expression since
she was in grade school. One of the
influences that pushed her into the
art of photography came from the
desire to document her experiences.
“In the 4th grade I had this teacher who wanted us to have journals
that we would keep in the class.
And she would have us write about
different prompts. And then sometimes give us time to free write.
And so I remember after I left that
school I would go back and look
into the journal and just read all of
these different things. And I was
like, ‘Wow I wish I had some way
to remember those visuals. I think
that like pictures did that for me.
Pictures just hold a lot of feeling.”
The next year Marshall and
her family moved back to Washington, D.C. to stay with her extended family. While she was
there she got her first glimpse at
the world of photographic art.
“My granddad is a photographer. [One day he] just let me pick
up his camera and start going. I
looked through that viewfinder
and it was like a whole different
world. That’s when it all started.”
Starting in the ways a ten year old
would, Marshall took pictures of the
things most interesting in her life:
plants, sunsets and stuffed animals.
“Do u remember those little Domo
things? I used to take pictures of
those,” Marshall said. “As I got older, more into like middle school and
high school, I started to photograph
my friends. So I wasn’t interested
in like portraiture really, I was just
interested in capturing memories.”
Taking pictures of friends eventually became more than a hobby
for Marshall, as she now specializes in portraiture photography. Last
year Marshall completed her first
ever photo portrait series, titled
I’ll Put it In a Letter. Each one of
her subjects is photographed in different lighting, using distinct poses, meticulously edited to convey
particular emotions. From Love, to
Hope, and Clarity, Marshall represents her own personal journey
through the faces of her friends.
In contrast to popular media
images that often have little model variety, Marshall’s models range
greatly in size, race and gender.
Bringing the diversity of her friend
group to the forefront of her work
was one of Marshall’s favorite parts
of being a portrait photographer.
“I think that when I am able to
make a really beautiful photograph,
it enables people to see themselves
in ways that they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to see. That’s why
it means a lot to me to be able to
shoot People of Color and marginalized people, because I think that
there can be a lot of power in those
types of images,” Marshall shared.
“If you’ve grown up all your life
with people telling you that you’re
not beautiful because of the color of your skin or because of your
identities; seeing a photograph of
yourself is like, surreal in a way.”
“I think it’s really important to just be able to like find
power
in
your
existence.”
In contrast, there are alot of unseen intricacies to working with live
subjects. Trying to purposely convey
certain messages can be challenging, especially if you are not working with paid professional models.
“In terms of like being in the studio, I never want to make a model try to portray something that
they’re not actually feeling. Unless they’re experienced in that regard, and they know how to make
that specific emotion come across.
Oftentimes I find that I’m able to
achieve that [feeling] with lighting.”
Marshall has been interested in how lighting can be utilized
since she began photography. “I
do a lot of work with gels and using colors, thinking about things
like color theory and how different colors can bring about different
feelings and emotions,” she said.
After all the capturing, lighting
and staging is over, Marshall takes to
her Mac and makes magical things
happen. What she cannot achieve
in the physical shoot, she creates in
photoshop, adding detail and variety to her already intricate work.
“Editing is a super huge part of
what I do. Photoshop is my life.
That’s how I portray a lot of the
feelings that I want. When I want a
photo to make somebody feel something, [and] it’s not present in the
photo, then I will make it.” Marshall
explains her editing work consists
of working with what’s there, “and
then also bringing out my inner
vision. Making that come to life.”
Marshall is currently in the process of drafting an ILC for her
next quarter that is based around
similar concepts as that of I’ll
Put it In a Letter. Her ILC will
be using photographs as a form
of representation for QTPOC
exclusively, exploring the concept of ‘existence as resistance.’
MARCH 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
13
Comix & Letters
KAOS sign. Karissa Carlson. Courtesy of TESC photo archives
COOPER POINT JOURNAL
LETTER TO THE
EDITOR
TOP
30
1.CALVIN JOHNSON - A WONDERFUL BEAST (ROCK)
2.BRANDI CARLILE - BY THE WAY, I FORGIVE YOU
3. TIFFANY POLLACK AND ERIC JOHANSON - BLUES IN MY BLOOD
4.MAGGIE ROGERS - HEARD IT IN A PAST LIFE (ELECTRONIC)
5.FREEMAN - TRUTH (SOUL/FUNK/R&B)
6.DIRTY RED AND THE SOUL SHAKERS - CLOUDLESS DAY (BLUE)
7. TULLYCRAFT - THE RAILWAY PRINCE HOTEL (ROCK)
8.RODOPI ENSEMBLE - THRAKI (WORLD)
9. PEDRO THE LION - PHOENIX (ROCK)
10. TORO Y MOI - OUTER PEACE (ELECTRONIC)
11. ILLISM - ILLUMINATE (HIP HOP)
12. THE HILLS AND THE RIVERS - THE FOOL & THE MAGICIAN
13. DITRANI BROTHERS AND THE HAMMER OF SPRING - BROKEN LANDS
14.PABLO DYLAN - THE FINEST SOMERSAULT (FCB)
15. TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND - SIGNS (ROCK)
16. YUNO - MOODIE (SOUL)
17. GUSTER - LOOK ALIVE (ROCK)
18. DOCTOR NATIVO - GUATEMAYA (LATIN)
19. LA LUZ - FLOATING FEATURES (ROCK)
20. HARLEM - OH BOY (ROCK)
21. ZIMININO - ZIMININO (BRAZILIAN)
22. IDAN RAICHEL - AND IF YOU WILL COME TO ME (WORLD)
23. FIRST IN FLIGHT - DALLIANCE (ROCK)
24. PIERRE AKENDENGUE - LA COULEUR DE L’AFRIQUE (AFRICAN)
25.NOCTORUM - THE AFTERLIFE (ROCK)
26. BANG DATA - LOCO (WORLD)
27. WEEP WAVE - S.A.D. (PUNK)
28. FRONTPERSON - FRONTRUNNER (ROCK)
29. SNEAKS - HIGHWAY (ELECTRONIC)
30. CHASMS - THE MIRAGE (ELECTRONIC)
COMIX
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This week, a very important election is taking place on campus, as we
once again must decide if we want to keep WashPIRG at Evergreen. In
case you aren’t familiar, WashPIRG is a student-directed advocacy organization that has been working here at Evergreen. And since the 1980’s
WashPIRG has been fighting to protect the environment, promote civic
engagement, and provide hunger relief. You may know us from our work
to register people to vote in the midterm Elections, our push for 100%
clean energy, or our efforts to ban single-use plastic in the state of Washington.
The reason WashPIRG is effective at its job is because we’re funded
through an $8 per quarter waivable fee that allows us to hire professional
staff. The WashPIRG paid campus organizer works full time on campus and teaches students effective, grassroots campaign skills including,
but not limited to, collecting petitions, outreaching to the media, and
lobbying elected officials. Just this quarter, WashPIRG has testified at
the Capitol four times in support of the 100% Clean Electricity Bill in
Washington, a statewide ban on plastic bags, and better access to food
through the use of EBT or food stamps on college campuses.
Thanks to the support of our Greeners, WashPIRG has been able to carry out mission of organize college students to solve some of the world’s
most pressing public interest problems. But now we must ask once again
for the student body to reaffirm their support for our program in the
GSU Elections.
So, make sure to vote YES this week to make sure WashPIRG is able to
keep fighting. Go to MyEvergreen.edu and click on “Vote” under your
To Do List. Let’s keep activism alive and strong here at the Evergreen
State College.
CARLOS D OTERO
By Isaac Hollandsworth
Food not bombs? JON HUEY. Courtesy of TESC photo archives
C
ST PJ
FO AF
HA O F
CK D
S
TO GET YOU
THROUGH
THE LAST
PUSH OF
WINTER
(AND SPRING
BREAK)
‘TIL THOSE
STUDENT
REFUND
CHECKS
ROLL IN
GEORGIE: REALLY CHEAP PHO!
The cheapest pho ever is at Capitol Market. For two dollars you can purchase a can
of pho broth. They also sell pho noodles for about $1.50 a pack. the can and the noodles
should be enough for up to three bowls of pho, meaning you can cure your shitty hangover / cold / sadness for about $1 a bowl. just put them in the broth and stick them in the
microwave for a few minutes. If you’re looking to splurge, they also sell all the ingredients
for bánh mì.
DANIEL: VEGAN TOASTER BURGER.
It’s midnight. You’re three beers and four bongs deep. You’ve got a real bad hankering
for a veggie burger. As bad as someone can have a hankering for a veggie burger. The patties are in your freezer, but you don’t want to start sizzling on the stove or heating up the
oven as your roommates are fast asleep and you definitely don’t want to start wiping grease
off the stove at midnight-thirty. It’s time to break out the toaster.
You can cook your buns (bread) and your veggies at the same time. Sourdough bread,
veggie patty, Trader Joe’s caramelized onion cheddar, maybe some onion and leafy greens
if you want to convince yourself that you’ve eaten something healthy. Stick one slice of
bread and your patty in there, then flip the patty and exchange the bread when it’s popped.
Or, if you’ve lucked your way into a 4-slice toaster, get it all done at once. BONUS: All
the crumbs in the toaster disappear until your cleanest roommate finally gets around to
cleaning up the damn thing after your place smells like ass everytime you make a toaster
strudel.
DJ: IRONING BOARD GRILLED CHEESE.
Living in a dorm and don’t have access to a stove? Here’s a ridiculous way to make a
grilled cheese sandwich! Tools required, an ironing board, an iron, and some tinfoil. Simply put your cheese, bread, and other fillings together, wrap it all in tinfoil. Then iron on
each side for 30 - 45 seconds. Viola! You have yourself a wonderful cheapo college snack,
complete with all the fat and calories of a regular grilled cheese! (You may need to tweak
the time and power level a bit to find the sweet spot).
You could also get a sandwich press, and if you don’t mind waffle marks, you can use
a waffle iron too (but that’s no fun). Waffle Irons also work great for quesadillas, burger
patties, and it sometimes works with cookie dough, but half the time you end up with
burnt cookie crumbs. Make sure to clean your waffle iron iron if you do this garbage, because otherwise you’ll be setting off the smoke alarm with three month old grilled cheese
embers.
MARIAH: SUGAR DADDY SURPRISE.
You look really cute and are very nice to people. One day a 45 year old who you are
nice to will ask to take you to dinner. You say yes. They don’t tell you where you are
going and then you end up going to eat at the nicest place in a 100 mile radius and they
order a $100 steak for you. Then you get dropped off at your house and tell them goodnight. Works like a charm.
JACK: GLUTEN ‘FREE’
Tired of the interminable supply of Greenery cookies? Ask for the gluten free
dessert.
Columns
Every issue we ask folks at
this school an uncomfortable question and
publish the answers. We hope that sharing those
Bananas. I’m weirdly
less-talked-about things here, with each other,
allergic to them, but I love
can be cathartic. Be warned, some content may bananas. So I have this like,
be triggering. Email us potential questions!
internal banana conflict.
Steven Universe. I used
to watch it with my ex-girlfriend who was really shitty
and abusive.
Alice, Freshman
Evergreen. I came
here, I loved it, then it
went downhill. They cut all
the cool departments and
the protests didn’t change
things we wanted changed.
Presidential elections.
I used to like them and
have fun with them, but
now I’m a commie, so
I’ve got common sense
and I know that shit
rarely works.
Ezra, Sophomore
Bacon. It’s bad.
Nick, Senior
Kyle, Junior
Theatre at
Evergreen. We’re
doing our best to
keep it going, but
the closing of the
experimental theatre, the costume
shop, and the
scene shop has
made things really
difficult.
Molly, Sophomore
Winter.
Winters in
Montana are a
lot more stable.
Washington’s
just erratic.
Rain, then
snow, then it
freezes over.
This year’s been
especially sucky.
Will, Freshman
One thing I
One Direction.
loved that
My worst
dateThey
aren’t a thing
was…
completely
ruined for me...
Ian,
Junior
Glee, the TV show. It
was like a gay awakening
when I was a teenager,
and rewatching it last
year… big mistake.
The swimming pool in the
CRC. Because of the budget cuts,
it got shut down and we don’t
have access to it anymore.
Mason, Senior
The band Creed. I liked to laugh
about them with friends back in the
day, but then that story broke about
the Creed guy creeping on a middle
school kid and they don’t seem that
funny now.
Ben, Senior
Snow. I used to
like snow, but I don’t
anymore after the
power outage.
Madison,
Freshman
anymore and
I’m sad.
Paris,
Sophomore
has been
Melanie, Associate
Director of Media
Services
The internet. I started using
the internet in the mid-90s and
I’ve noticed a lot of changing. It
seems less open now than it used
to be and it’s creating a lot of
polarization in our society.
Chris, Senior
Climbing trees. There’s
no more branches and I
weigh too much. It’s sad.
Getting up to heights is
how you meet birds.
Justin, Junior
Shrek. It was my
childhood and now
it’s dead. There’s
just too many
memes.
Micah,
Freshman
MARCH 6, 2019 / THE COOPER POINT JOURNAL
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cpj_20190306.pdf